The flies woke me up today. They seem to like sitting in my face. We could have slept until 8.30 but I could only doze and from time to time shake my head or arms for the last one and a half hours.
We had breakfast in the garden of the hotel and it was the first traditional breakfast we got: Tsampa soup, sweet, Kiachl-like bread, normal bread and spicy potatoes. In addition we had a very good apricot jam, butter and, of course, tea and masala. I still stick to drinking Ovomaltine.
Our guide told us that today was more or less a relaxing day but in total we nevertheless walked a bit. Our first destination was the monastery of Tingmosgang, which is once again located on a hill. The walk up was steep and it was getting hot. I liked the fact that our two drivers joined us. When we arrived on top of the hill, we had a great view over the valley.
The monastery was originally a palace for the king of western Ladakh. To one statue of the monastery there is an interesting story: it is told that the king once had a dream in which Avalokiteshvara told him to build a statue of him for Buddhist practicing people. The king wanted to obey but his Lama told him that this matter would handle itself. Some time later, the statue that is now in the shrine, appeared out of a fire cloud. Nobody knew where it came from and that’s why it is called the self-born statue. It shall have a wish-fulfilling power and many people, especially women who want to have children, come here to offer special prayers and to have their wishes fulfilled.
In the building next to that shrine, there is a seven meters high statue of Buddha Maitreya, the future Buddha.
We walked down on the other side of the hill and into a valley. At the end of the road, there was a hermitage. I don’t know how you imagine a hermitage but I can assure you that it looked completely different. It is a new temple that was inaugurated some years ago and is still not finished. We saw workers painting the windows and a fence. The temple itself was painted with very bright colors and it was strange to have new paintings after all those thousand year old, often half destroyed pictures. Inside, our guide explained the life of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama.
The hermitage is part of the red head school and was built for monks, especially elderly ones, to come and practice meditation and find some peace. There is also a little cave in the mountain for one person to meditate.
In the shadow of the hermitage’s nice garden we had a short rest before walking down again. We stopped by a nunnery, where we got some tea. It was the first time I finished a whole cup of mint tea with black tea! The nuns were very friendly and offered cookies as well. There was not much to see in the nunnery, so we walked back to the hotel. It was very hot by now and I was afraid of getting sunburned, although I had used sunscreen on my arms twice. I’m quite happy now that I don’t have red arms, they are just a little bit warm. I should wear my long-sleeve shirt all the time when it is sunny...
We had lunch and then left the hotel again. There was no more program on the plan but our guide had the nice idea to visit a village in a near valley. After thirty minutes drive we reached it and walked around while we got explanations on how traditional villages look like. We also saw some secret tunnels which the villagers used to get water without being seen by invaders.
There are still many flies in our room although Annetraud already threw about 40 out of the window already. This is so annoying, you can’t imagine. -.-
We had breakfast in the garden of the hotel and it was the first traditional breakfast we got: Tsampa soup, sweet, Kiachl-like bread, normal bread and spicy potatoes. In addition we had a very good apricot jam, butter and, of course, tea and masala. I still stick to drinking Ovomaltine.
Our guide told us that today was more or less a relaxing day but in total we nevertheless walked a bit. Our first destination was the monastery of Tingmosgang, which is once again located on a hill. The walk up was steep and it was getting hot. I liked the fact that our two drivers joined us. When we arrived on top of the hill, we had a great view over the valley.
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| view from the monastery |
The monastery was originally a palace for the king of western Ladakh. To one statue of the monastery there is an interesting story: it is told that the king once had a dream in which Avalokiteshvara told him to build a statue of him for Buddhist practicing people. The king wanted to obey but his Lama told him that this matter would handle itself. Some time later, the statue that is now in the shrine, appeared out of a fire cloud. Nobody knew where it came from and that’s why it is called the self-born statue. It shall have a wish-fulfilling power and many people, especially women who want to have children, come here to offer special prayers and to have their wishes fulfilled.
In the building next to that shrine, there is a seven meters high statue of Buddha Maitreya, the future Buddha.
 |
| the whish-fulfilling, self-born statue |
We walked down on the other side of the hill and into a valley. At the end of the road, there was a hermitage. I don’t know how you imagine a hermitage but I can assure you that it looked completely different. It is a new temple that was inaugurated some years ago and is still not finished. We saw workers painting the windows and a fence. The temple itself was painted with very bright colors and it was strange to have new paintings after all those thousand year old, often half destroyed pictures. Inside, our guide explained the life of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama.
The hermitage is part of the red head school and was built for monks, especially elderly ones, to come and practice meditation and find some peace. There is also a little cave in the mountain for one person to meditate.
 |
| not lonely or small at all! |
In the shadow of the hermitage’s nice garden we had a short rest before walking down again. We stopped by a nunnery, where we got some tea. It was the first time I finished a whole cup of mint tea with black tea! The nuns were very friendly and offered cookies as well. There was not much to see in the nunnery, so we walked back to the hotel. It was very hot by now and I was afraid of getting sunburned, although I had used sunscreen on my arms twice. I’m quite happy now that I don’t have red arms, they are just a little bit warm. I should wear my long-sleeve shirt all the time when it is sunny...
We had lunch and then left the hotel again. There was no more program on the plan but our guide had the nice idea to visit a village in a near valley. After thirty minutes drive we reached it and walked around while we got explanations on how traditional villages look like. We also saw some secret tunnels which the villagers used to get water without being seen by invaders.
There are still many flies in our room although Annetraud already threw about 40 out of the window already. This is so annoying, you can’t imagine. -.-
thank you for writing this up and posting the picture of the self-borne statue! I was in retreat in the monastery of Tserkamo last July and also visited the hermitage cave which is part of the truly colorful and still under construction monastery. As I don't take pictures but was traveling with people who take many, many of them I wasn't sure anymore whether the picture I had of the self-borne statue was in fact from Tingmosgang. Best wishes, Swan from Vienna
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that I could help! I know the feeling when you look at the pictures you took and you don't really remember the name of the place.
DeleteGreetings to Vienna!